Teaching boys not to hurt or kill their girlfriends is now part of the curriculum in schools in the northern city of Turin.

The move is part of an initiative to combat the rising number of women being killed by men in Italy.

In June, Italy’s biggest trade union, the CGIL, recorded 81 victims in 2013 alone. And in 2012, the number of victims stood at 124, according to Italy’s national statistics agency ISTAT.

Schoolboys are being taught how to treat women with respect through texts and role playing, while girls are shown how to stand their ground, according to a recent report in La Repubblica.

They are also shown reports on the hundreds of feminicide and abuse cases.

"If you have the right perception of difference, if you recognise the role of the opposite sex, then you also know that this person is not inferior to you," Umberto Magnoni, the director of training for the city of Turin told La Repubblica.

Campaigns are also underway across the country to tackle the issue, including one by underwear firm Yamayay, which launched ‘Ferma il bastardo’ (‘Stop the Bastard’), a social media and press campaign that encourages femicide victims to report their attackers.

Meanwhile, in August the Italian government passed a new anti-femicide law, which it trumpeted as a “radical change” in the “relentless fight against the sad phenomenon of femicide".

Measures include the obligatory arrest of those caught in the act of stalking, or physically abusing victims, and obligatory police investigations once complaints have been lodged.

Women will now be kept informed about any legal processes involving their attackers, and violent partners will be evicted from family homes.